As It Should Be
by Balek
Summary: Ten years after the Metacrisis Doctor and Rose were left on parallel Earth, their lives are about to get interesting all over again...   This idea came to me after watching the deleted scene from Journey's End
1. Chapter 1

"Welcome back to The Ultimate Game Show! Our contestants are all lined up and ready to take the plunge, all in order to be famous and win an excellent prize of.."

The mindless chatter stopped as soon as he hit the power button. The screen went black and he chucked the remote onto the sofa next to him before standing up. He stretched his stiffening muscles, some of his joints clicking slightly as nitrogen bubbles popped in the cartilage. Straightening his jacket he walked out of the living room and headed towards the open door of the kitchen. As he reached the door, the Doctor ruffled his hair back into its usual spikes, and popped his head around the frame, instantly spotting the person he was looking for. That person was Rose, his beloved wife of now 10 years, 364 days, 3 hours and 47 minutes, who had just returned from a not so exciting food shopping trip and was now unloading her purchases into the cupboard. He caught her eye and grinned at her, and she smiled back, yet as always he saw the tiny twinge of sadness in that smile. And as always he knew the reason for that sadness. For he was the Doctor, but not the original, not the one that Rose had fell in love with in the other universe, not the one she had travelled around the universe with, the one with whom she had saved planets and fought monsters. He was just the result of those battles with the monsters, the one who had saved the universe but not in the way his original self would have done it. Rose had changed him, he was now like his other self, no longer full of fire and hate, the guilt of the genocide of the Daleks now a heavy chain draped over his single heart as it beat inside him. And now he was trapped in a single time zone, on a single planet, albeit with the woman he so truly loved, yet his mind was taken back to his, no, the other Doctor's 3rd self and his exile to Earth all those years ago. Sometimes he struggled to get his head around everything, the Human part of him not always keeping up with the demands of his Time Lord part. He looked like the Doctor, thought like the Doctor, and even had all his memories, but he wasn't. He was the copy, yet he was the one married to Rose Tyler, the girl who had crossed entire dimensions to find him, facing unimaginable dangers as she did so. And soon, he hoped to put things right, and return things to how they should be.

Rose put the last purchase away in the cupboard and walked over to where the Doctor was standing by the door. She put her hand on his chest, just like she had done on the beach in Bad Wolf Bay all those years ago, and he did the same, his hand covering hers. For a few seconds they looked into each other's eyes, feeling the Doctor's strong single heartbeat in his chest, noticing how they both were the same as they had been all those years ago, yet slightly different as they both aged together. Then the Doctor moved his hand off hers and put his arm around her shoulders instead.

"You know, there is nothing, and I mean nothing, on TV anymore! It's all reality show rubbish!"

"Tell me about it..." Rose replied, her hand having not moved from where she had placed it. "This planet is so boring at times!"

The Doctor chuckled before grinning.

"Don't say that! This planet is wonderful. It is just even more wonderful when you can escape it once in a while and see other places in time and space. And hopefully, that problem will soon be solved!"

Rose looked puzzled for a moment before asking him what she thought would be a most obvious question.

"How? What are you going to do?"

The Doctor grinned even wider than he already was.

"Well, first things first. I'm off to the greenhouse!"

Rose rolled her eyes, smiled, and pushed him gently back with her hand. The Doctor used the momentum to spin around and started walking back down the corridor towards the back door.

"The greenhouse, I could have guessed!" Rose muttered to herself. She turned around to walk back into the kitchen but stopped to look at the retreating figure of her husband down the long corridor of the mansion which they shared with her parents and her baby brother Tony.

"It didn't work the first time and it's much too quick for it to have succeeded yet. What makes you so sure?" She shouted down to him before laughing.

"Because I'm the Doctor!" He shouted back.

"But you're not, you're only half Time Lord! You're one of us humans too, don't forget that!"

"Thank you Earthgirl!" He replied, instantly recognising the traits of Donna in him, just like he had realised just after he had grown. He laughed to himself, opening the back door and stepping out into the late evening sunshine. He filled his lungs with the crisp air and observed the clouds, deducing what the weather would be like for the next few days in a seconds, before heading towards the large glass structure that was his specially built greenhouse.


	2. Chapter 2

It was complete. As soon as he had stepped inside he knew it was ready. There it was, standing in front of him, filling the entire space of the greenhouse. His TARDIS, his one other true love apart from Rose. It had taken a long 10 years and 2 attempts to have it back, and he was so happy. When he was standing on the beach in Bad Wolf Bay, the original Doctor gave him a chunk of TARDIS to grow. Donna had helped in saying how to take the growing time down from thousands of years to just 10. But yet it didn't work the first time, the TARDIS just shrivelled up and died after a year, no matter how hard he had tried to save it. But luckily he had not used the whole chunk that was given to him, he split it in half. So the Doctor thought, he thought for so long that he could think about nothing else. He even dreamt of solutions. And then it happened, he went into a constant dreamlike state, the perfect way to think of answers to tough questions, and he found the best way to simulate the TARDIS growing environment on Gallifrey. He built a specially designed greenhouse in the back garden of the Pete's mansion, right on the spot that 12 years ago the Doctor and Rose battled Cybermen that had crashed the party. There was something about that spot that the growing ship took a liking to, it grew a lot quicker than it had inside the house. Rose had suggested it was because of the crystal from the TARDIS that had been used to destroy the attacking Cybermen, that there was an energy residue that it needed to grow. The Doctor had agreed with her, but only because he actually had no idea. The TARDIS was just like a person, it was alive after all, and just like everyone else it had its favourite places to be. So he tried again. He planted the other half of the chunk in soil he had specially mixed together to provide it with everything it needed. And waited… And now 9 years later, the almost impossible had been accomplished. A TARDIS had been grown on another planet except Gallifrey.

The Doctor admired his brand new ship, its curved metal surface shining in the fading sunlight. It was better than he had dared to hope; even the chameleon circuit was functioning correctly. His TARDIS was not the battered blue box it had been for so long. It was a large metal cylinder, about 3 metres high, with a domed roof. It was still attached to the plant from which it had grown, like a large fruit, the thick pulsing stem attached to the top where the light on his old TARDIS had been. He placed his hand on the side of it, feeling the slight vibration that all TARDIS's had, and patted it gently. He smiled and pushed the door, finding it locked. He scratched his ear, looking around, trying to work out a way of getting in. Then he spotted it, attached to the stem just above the cylinder, a small pouch on the end of a long, tightly curled tendril which in itself was growing out of giant stem, bobbing just over the edge of the roof. It was out of the Doctor's reach, and so he started to think again, slowly pacing around the remaining space of the glass building. As he did so, gradually the tendril started to uncurl. He spotted it the movement out of the corner of his eye and stopped facing the TARDIS, watching it with curiosity. After a minute, it had completely straightened, and the pouch was right in front of the Doctor's eyes. He carefully took hold of it, making sure not to tug it or break the thin tendril. The pouch was the same size as his palm; it was slightly warm to the touch, with a thin covering of fur, like a small mammal. There was something solid inside and he ran his thumb over it, working out the shape of what it was. He grinned; it was exactly what he was looking for. Care was needed for the next stage, the last thing he wanted to do was cause either the plant or the TARDIS any pain or his life would be at risk. Carefully turning the object in his hands, he located the seam that was running along one side. He ran his thumb along the seam and held his breath to see if it would work. After a few tense seconds there was a loud slurping noise and the Doctor beamed. As he cradled the pouch in his palm, he watched as the seam started to split, like it was a zip. The pouch opened and revealed its contents. In the centre of it, in a ball of solid gel was what looked like an ordinary key, apart from the fact that it was ever so slightly glowing. Taking out the jelly that contained the key, he let go of the now empty pouch. Almost instantly the tendril it was attached to started to curl up again and soon the pouch was back to where the Doctor had spotted it. He stuck his thumb nail into the jelly, splitting it, and squeezed out the key. As soon as his fingers touched the still warm metal, a surge of excitement went through his body, causing goose bumps to form on his arms. Hands slightly shaking, he put the key into the lock. It was a perfect fit, of course it was. The Doctor hesitated, savouring the anticipation, and then turned the key slowly. The lock clicked open and he took a deep breath, closing his eyes as he did. He pushed open the door and stepped inside, closing the door behind him. Eyes still closed he counted to three before gradually opening them. It was just like he remembered, it was beautiful! It had the same coral pillars throughout the immense space rising up to touch the roof. In the centre of the room was the console, the same, but not the same. This TARDIS was brand new; everything had an extra shine to it. It even smelled new, that distinct smell that the Doctor just adored. He drank in his surroundings for a few moments, revelling in the joy of being back where he really belonged, before walking over to the console. Before he could do anything else he had to make the connection, put his imprint into the Briode Nebuliser, to become one with his ship. He flipped open the panel next to the time handbrake, putting his hand on the screen underneath. As soon as he had done so a cold surge spread up his arm, through his head and into his mind. He let it in, becoming one with the heart of the TARDIS. And like a snap of the fingers it was there, the complete telepathic connection that every pilot needed to fully control it. The original Doctor had stolen his TARDIS, which meant that the connection was not complete, meaning that he could not control it as well as he would have hoped to. But it was different for his copy. This TARDIS was his right from the start. Everything would work for him, everything about it was perfect. Too perfect… He lay down on the floor and slid underneath the console. He instantly found the circuit he was looking for and disconnected it from the rest of the console. The TARDIS probed his consciousness to try and find out what he was doing and groaned. He stood up, pressed a button on the console twice and stepped back to let the ship do what he wanted. He turned and watched the door as many small windows appeared in the top of them. He laughed and ran outside, spinning around to watch the change. Before his eyes the TARDIS was morphing, the metal cylinder was changing shape, becoming more angular, and the silver colour was darkening. After a few minutes, it was finished. Standing in all its glory in front of the Doctor was a big blue box, with the words 'Police Public Call Box' written across the top. There was one last thing to do… The Doctor ran out of the greenhouse towards the mansion. Once he was inside he went into his bedroom and opened the wardrobe. He dug out his blue suit, the only set of clothes he had had when he was left on this planet. He quickly changed into it, a mixture of excitement and adrenaline running through his heart. Jumping into his trainers, he ran downstairs towards the backdoor, towards his freedom. As he did so he shouted, so loud the whole mansion vibrated,

"Rose, grab your coat! We're going on a little road trip!"

The Doctor, in the TARDIS, with Rose Tyler. As it should be.


End file.
